on the possibilities of promoting foreigntravel by citizens
of Member States of theCouncil of Europe in the territory ofother Member States

The Assembly,

Considering that foreign travel and, in particular, visits on an
exchange basis between the citizens of one country and those of another lead to
greater mutual understanding and can thus contribute effectively to the
promotion of the idea of European unity,

Section A

Action taken on Resolution (52) 47 of the Committee of
Ministers

Recommends that the Committee of Ministers communicate to it regularly
detailed information on the action taken in pursuance of Resolution (52) 47
and, in particular, on measures taken by individual Member Governments, which
do not fall within the scope of the cultural programme of the Council of
Europe, with a view to :

(i) increasing the number and value of scholarships available to their
nationals for educational visits abroad (Point 1 of Resolution 47);

(ii) enabling their nationals to take part in international meetings,
periods of study and courses, on questions of European interest (Point 2 of
Resolution 47);

Section B

Development of existing facilities

Recommends that the Committee of Ministers invite Member Governments to
develop, and to extend to new groups of the population, the arrangements in
force for encouraging international exchange and foreign travel, more
especially :

(i) by a substantial increase of the budgetary allocations for workers'
exchange programmes and for the subsidies to popular travel organisations
granted by the Governments themselves or by international organisations of
which they are Members, such as UNESCO, I. L. 0. and the Council of Europe;

(ii) by encouraging the creation of popular travel organisations and of
savings clubs for holiday or travel purposes in the countries in which they do
not at present exist;

(iii) by promoting, with the help of the Secretariat-General of the
Council of Europe, the organisation of conferences at which the organisations
referred to could discuss and agree on programmes for travel abroad on an
exchange basis or otherwise, covering such matters as accommodation; could
prepare the necessary reciprocal agreements in respect of contracts with
transport companies and the hotel industry; and could institute such financial
clearing arrangements as may be required;

(iv) by making use of the means at the disposal of the public
authorities for the purpose of publicising existing arrangements for
international exchanges, in particular through the medium of the press and the
radio and by any other means of publicity that may reach those who are
interested;

Section C

New measures

Recommends that the Committee of Ministers propose to Member
Governments the introduction of new measures to encourage travel abroad by the
lower-income groups of the population such as :

1. the measures for the simplification of frontier formalities set out
in Recommendation 51 (1953) and particularly in Sections B and C thereof, and
in Recommendation 84 (1955) and, moreover, where for special reasons, passports
have to be retained for the time being:

(i) the free issue of passports;

(ii) the reduction of passport application formalities to the
minimum;

(iii) the abolition of passports in certain specific circumstances, for
example in the case of return journeys of limited duration;

2. the extension to the nationals of the other member countries of
certain travel facilities and advantages granted by a member country to its own
nationals;

3. the negotiation of international agreements between rail transport
companies extending the tariff reductions made available in certain member
countries to ticket-holders who have purchased their ticket in one of the
countries in question to travellers who have purchased their ticket in another
member country for the purpose of visiting or passing through the country in
which the said reductions are applied;

Section D

Introduction of a European savings system for encouraging travel
abroad

Recommends that the Committee of Ministers convene a Conference of the
competent authorities in the member countries for the purpose of preparing a
Convention establishing a European savings system, which will enable the
lower-income groups of the population to travel abroad, and which would
incorporate the following proposals:

(i) the Council of Europe would issue "travel savings
vouchers" which would be on sale with the transport companies of the
countries whose Governments are parties to the Convention;

(ii) the vouchers would be exchanged by the holders on the occasion of
their annual holiday for a " Council of Europe ticket ", covering a
return journey to any member country or countries whose Governments are parties
to the Convention;

(iii) the interest on the moneys received by the transport companies
from sale of the vouchers would make it possible for the tickets, for which the
vouchers would eventually be exchanged, to be issued at less than their nominal
value;

(iv) the "Council of Europe ticket" would be accepted in
the place of a passport and would serve as a laissez-passer during the
period of the validity of the ticket itself. It would be made out in the
holder's name and would be issued only on presentation of suitable identity
papers, such as a national identity card or a national insurance card.

[1]. This Recommendation was adopted by the Assembly at
its 17th Sitting, on 19th October, 1955 (see Doc. 405, draft Recommendation of
the Committee on Social Questions and Explanatory Memorandum by Miss Burton,
Rapporteur).